Ball-throwing machine



April 2, 1929. J. D. JETER BALL THROWING MACHINE Filed Oct. 8, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet S um wm J. D. JETER BALL THROWING MACHINE Filed Oct. 8, 1928 April 2, 1929.

April 2, 1929. .1. D. JETER BALL THROWING MACHINE Filed 0013. 8, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet all'.

Patented Apr. 2, 1929.

UNITED STATES' 1,707,726 PATENT oFFlcE.

JOHN D. JETEB, Ol' SALISBURY, NORTH (JAIR'OLIKI'A.v

BALL-THBOWING EACHINE.

Application led October 8, 1928. Serial No. 310,943.

An object of my invention is to provide abaseball pitcher which will pitch baseballs at regular intervals, said pitcher being power drlven, said machine being entirely automatic in every detail and will run continuously so long as desired without any attention.

Another object of my invention is to provide an automatic baseball pitcher which will pitch balls at regular intervals, which will return the balls after the same are thrown by the machine to the pitching mechanism, said returning means comprising an elevator and a transversely disposed trough in which a crossed belt runs to deliver the balls to the elevator.

Some of the objects of my invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in whichi Figure 1 is a side elevation of my machine;

Figure 2 is a plan View of my machine and the transversely disposed trough;

Figure 3 is an enlarged detail view, partly in cross-section, of the arresting means for the pitching arm;

Figure 4 is an enlarged detail in elevation of the holding and release means for the pitching arm;

-Figure 5 is a side elevation of the ball deliverin means which is disposed transversel. of t e machine for delivering the balls to the elevating mechanism.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the numeral indicates the base of my machine, which may be the floor of a building if desired and on this base I mount the stand 11 which has the circularsloping trough 12 50 secured at the top thereof, with the projections 13, 14 and 15 secured to one side thereof,

the function of said projections will be later' explained. The projection 13 has mounted' therein the rotatable shaft 16, and in the lower end of the projection 13 thereto is mounted the worm 17 which meshes with the worm gear 18 mountedfixedly on the shaft 16 and being iush with the end of the said shaft.

The worm 17 is connected to the shaft 19 of the motor 20. The rotatable .shaft 16 issupported also by the bearing in the upstanding projection 21, and fixedly mounted on this rotatable shaft is the cam member 22, the pulley 23 for driving the elevator, and also the pulley 24 for operating themechanism for delivering the balls to the elevator.

On the outer face of the worm gear 18 there is secured the pin 25 which fits into the slot 26 in the lower end'of the lever 27, which lever is pivoted intermediate its ends in the end of the projection 14, as at 28, and to the upper end of the said lever there is connected the tension spring 30 which has its other end connected to the pitching arm 31 as at 32. l

This pitching `arm is'pivoted intermediate its ends as at 33 between the twin projections 15, said projections extending outwardly and havingthe check mechanism 34 pivoted therebetween as at 35, which will be later eX- plained. The upper end of the pitching arm has the cup-shaped portion 36 in which a baseball 37 is adapted to rest while being pitched. On the lower side of the upper portion of the pitching arm 31 there is the hook 38 which serves to hold the pitching arm in the position shown in Figure l until the same is released to throw the ball. Mounted on the twin projections 15 there is the upstanding forked member 40 which has the transversely disposed pin 41 therein on which is pivotally mounted the member 42. One end of this member 42 has therein the roller 43 which is adapted to be engaged by the hook 38, and the other end of the member 42 projects from between the members 40 and is adapted to be engaged by the hooked rod 44.

Mounted between the members 40 is the compression spring 45 which tends to hold the rear end of the member 42 in elevated position, after the same has been depressed by the rod 44. This rod 44 is slidably secured in the projection 47 secured to the lower edge of one of the twin projections 15, .or to both projections if desired, and the said rod projects downwardly and has the roller 48 mounted therein, which roller is adapted to follow the cam 22 to trip the pitching arm at the proper time.

The check mechanism 34 comprises the casing 50 which is pivotally mounted as at 35 and in this the piston 51 slides, said piston being connected to the pitching arm as at 52,

and on the upper side of this casing there is mounted the oil cup 53 which has a passage 54 leading therefrom to the interior of the casing, and in this passage there is mounted the check valve 55 to prevent compressed air from on the lower side of the casing to allow a greater amount of air to be drawn into the casing while the pitching arm is being placed in position to throw another ball. This comprises the passageway 57 having the enlarged portion 58 in which the check ball 59 is mounted, and the additional passageway 6() is provided to allow air to enter the casing, but while the piston is returning the ball 59 will seat in the lower portion of cavity 58 and prevent any escape of air-[from the casing.

The vconventional needlevalve 61 is provided at the closed end of the casing 34,

which regulates the amount of air which passes thru while the piston is moving in either direction. This allows the air to escape slowly when the ball is thrown and serves as a check for the pitching arm, and when the pitching arm is being placed in position to throw another ball, air is pulled in thru this needle valve and also thru the passageway 60, while when the ball is thrown and the air is being compressed in the casing, the passageway 60 is closed and only air can escape thru the needle valve.

The rod 62 is secured on the projection 63 in a slidable manner and the upper end thereof passes thru a hole in the bottom of the end of the circular trough 12, and secured to this rod and around the same is the compression spring 64 which normally pushes the rod downwardly. The lower end of the rod is connectedvto the lever 65, "said lever being pivoted as at 66 and the freef end of theV lever fits against and follows the roller 67 on the lower end of the lever 27, so that when the rod 62 is in raised position vthe upper end thereof will project into the trough and prevent the balls from dropping into the cup in the upper end of the pitching arm. This rod will be in raised posltion while the pitching arm is released to throw a ball, but when the Ypitching-'ar'm yisbrought back to a position Vl`where it will be held while the spring 30 is being stretched, the rod will `be moved to lowered ,position and this will allow a ball to roll into the cup in the upper end of the pitching arm.

The stand 70 is mounted on the' opposite end of the base 10 and has the transversely disposed shaft 71 mounted therein for rotation, and on this shaft there is lixedly 'mounted the sprocket wheel 72, and the pulley 73 is mounted onfsaid shaft, and the belt 74 is mounted on the said pulley and also on the pulley 23 on the shaft 16 by means ofl which- In Vthe stand 70 there are mounted the pulleys 78 and 79, and mounted over these pulleys is the transversely disposed trough 80, and at the ends of this trough 80 there are rotatably secured, the pulleys 81 and 82, and mounted on the lower side of this trough member 80 there are the pulleys 83 and 84. This trough member 8() has the bottom member therein with a cutaway portion in the central. portion thereof opposite the sprocket wheel 72 and between the pulleys 78 and 79. A belt 86 is mounted on the pulley 24 and runs as follows: Around the pulley 84, then to pulley 81, then along the upper edge of the bottom member 85' and over the pulley 79, then under pulley 78, then under and over the pulley 82, then along the top of the bottom' member 85, then over pulley 78, then under pulley 79, then around pulley 83 and back over pulley 23 to the beginning, and moving in the direction just described.

Mounted on the-stand 70 is the trough member 90 which has the slot 91 therein into which the balls 37 fall where they are caught by one of the cups or pockets 77 and carried to the circular trough. The upwardly slanting trough member 92 runs for a short distance along the sprocket chain 76 and has the slot 93 therein in which the sprocket chain moves. The floor of the building is indicated by the numeral 94 and is sloping to cause the pitched balls to roll back into the trough member 80. The balls are pitched against a curtain or other suitable stop (not shown) from whence they bounce back on the sloping floor 94. Y

The spring 47 1 is mounted below the member 47 and has its lower end secured to the rod 44 and this spring tends to press the rod 44 downwardly and cause it to follow the cam 22.

The method of operation of my machine is as follows: Looking at Figure 1 it is noted '10 in raised position tension will be built upin the spring 30 and at this moment the rod 44 will drop from the highest portion of the cam 22 to its lowest portion and this will release the pitching arm from the roller 43 and cause the ball to be thrown, and the checking device will then o rate to check the arm 'after the ball is t rown, and at this point the lever 65 will be pushed to the left and the rod 62 will be and thus prevent other balls from passing from the trough until the parts are in approximately the position shown in Figure 1, at which time the rod 62 will be lowered and a ball permitted to fall l5 into the cup in the upper end of the pitching arm. The dotted lines at the upper end of the rod 62 indicates the position the rod will occupy when in raised position. p

In the drawings and specification I have set forth a (preferred embodiment of my invention, an although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and desc'iptive sense only, and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being I set forth in the appended claims.

4`I claim:

` 1. In a` baseball pitching machine, a throwing arm, a circular trough for delivering balls to the throwing arm, an elevator for delivering the balls to the trough, a. sloping floor for causing the balls to return towards the' machine after being thrown by the said machine, a transversely disposed trou h for catching the balls from the rolling oor, a belt mounted in the transversely disposed trough, said belt running from one of the troughs to ,then running under the other half of the the central portion thereof,

trough, then running-fin the-upper portion of the trough and towards the center thereof, then running beneath the iirst mentioned portion of the trough, pulley driven by the-machine,`and from said ulley back to the said trough, whereby -the alls are fed to the lcentral rtion of the trough where they are cau'g t by the elevator.

2: In a baseball throwing machine, a pitchin arm, a circular trough mounted above t e itching arm and being adapted to deliver ba s one at a. time to the said pitching arm, a transversely A disposed shaft mounted in the machine and having means thereon for'operating the pitching arm, a catch for holding the pitching arm in position while ressure is ing applied thereto, a cam on t e transversely disposed shaft, a pivoted lever adapted to normally hold the pitching arm, a hook on the said rod, a spring adapted to hold the rod against the cam, said cam being adapted to allow the rod to suddenly fall to trip the lever to release the pitching arm, a tension s ring connected to the lower end of the pitc in arm, th/*said pitching arm being moun 'on a pivot intermediate its ends, a second lever mounted in the ma.- chine and having its up r end connected to the other end of the sprlng connected to the itching arm, the lower end of the lever bemg slidably mounted on a cam on the said shaft, and means for moving said lever to increase the tension in the spring connected to the said lever.

In testimony whereof I ax my signature.

JOHN D. JETER.

then running to a. 

